33 'Gang 24 Apache' members to be charged tomorrow

PETALING JAYA: A total of 33 members of 'Gang 24 Apache' are expected to be charged at Klang Sessions Court tomorrow for their involvement in a string of offences such as rioting, assault and also serious crimes such as drug trafficking and murder.
"The vicinity of court complex will be the trademark for tomorrow. Expect heavy police presence for security reasons," Selangor police chief Commissioner Datuk Mazlan Mansor (pix) told reporters after attending a police function at Kota Damansara here today.
"The suspects will be charged under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and Prevention of Crime Act (Poca)," he added.
Mazlan said from January to July this year, the Selangor CID netted 266 individuals under Poca.
"The figure can be considered as one of the highest in Malaysia compared to the other contingents," he said, adding that the state CID is also in the midst of tracing 15 gang members to facilitate the investigation.
Mazlan added that the 33 men who are going to be charged are among the men nabbed during Ops Cantas Khas, led by the federal police elite Special Task Force on Organised Crime (Stafoc) unit with the assistance of CID personnel from the respective states from July 17.
The operation saw 104 notorious underworld gangs members nabbed - 52 suspects in Selangor, 25 in Penang and 27 in Kedah.
On July 18, theSun reported gang members, who are from underworld groups such as Gang 36, Gang 24, Gang 18 and Gang 04 – which have been banned by the Home Ministry – were behind the recruitment of students at several secondary schools, especially in Klang and Sungai Petani.
In April, a viral video of a group of students in uniform opposite a school in Klang showed them carrying banners and cutting a cake with a Gang 24 logo.
The students, who wreaked havoc in the area by revving their motorcycle engines, were apparently celebrating the gang's anniversary.
State police, with the assistance of Stafoc, launched an operation soon after and detained 52 youths – 43 of them students.